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Alexander Police Department getting technology boost

The Alexander Police Department is updating its procedure for cataloging police reports. Soon, all accident and incident reports will be placed on computer systems, Alexander Police Chief Horace Walter said.
Walter said he was happy to “finally” implement the new system. Well before Walter’s administration began in 2010, officer reports were hand-placed into filing cabinets, but now they can go straight into the database. All the reports put in the database will also be put on a backup system.
“It took me about four months to get everything set up, but I’m glad to get it going,” Walter said.
The police department will start putting decades worth of reports in the computer starting Monday.
The department will use computers that were seized during a former administration. Walter said the total cost to bring Alexander Police Department up to date with modern technology will be less than $2,000.
The next step is to have electronic scanning devices called Digi Ticket for all officers, Walter said. Digi-ticket is a digital scanner, about the size of an older model PDA style cellphone (the ones with a stylus), and it scans a person’s identification card for pertinent information.
An officer can quickly find out if the person scanned has a warrant without having to communicate with a dispatcher via radio. If the officer needs to issue a citation, once the identification card is scanned, an officer can simply hit a button on the Digi Ticket and print off a receipt with the offenses and court information. Officers will also be equipped with a Bluetooth thermal printer.
“This will streamline the (citation) process, reduce the chance of errors because officers are not having to hand enter data, and it will allow officers to conduct traffic stops and issue citations, if needed, in a quick and more efficient manner,” said Lt. Kevin Russell, public information officer for Benton Police Department.
The Benton Police Department also recently purchased Digi Ticket equipment. “This will ultimately save time by allowing an officer to resume his other duties quicker…(It) will auto-sync with the court system and the Benton Police Department, and the (Saline County) Sheriff’s Office will also be on the system starting Dec. 1.
It fills all the fields on a ticket, such as name, date of birth, valid address and other information. And it near instantaneously sends that data to the court system (software).”